Thread: Geometric Night Terrors @ Fever Dreams

I just randomly noticed this thread on the forum and can't believe I never saw it before. I am yet another victim of these crazy ass dreams as a child, albeit with some slight variations.

The main one for me was set in infinite blank space. My awareness was attached to a small arrow shape, and even though there was blankness, there was an overwhelming sensation of moving impossibly fast, ripping through this blank canvas at the speed of light. The arrow represented a spaceship or 'something' that was slowly but inevitably going to collide with and destroy 'the universe' or perhaps just Earth... the feeling of knowing this was happening and being unable to stop it was just infinite doom and terror, it was incredibly frightening. I would have this infinite dream loop recurring semi-regularly for years, but can't remember having it past the age of 10 or so.

Another big one for me was seemingly being awake, and imagining an object in my room which was just impossible. I would have the image of a ring or a jewel in my mind, and in the small object was contained the entire weight and mass of the universe. This was less of a terrifying feeling but I suppose terrifyingly mysterious. It was a long time ago since I experienced this recurring experience but I seem to remember finding it fascinating and sort of playing with the concept in my mind, as opposed to the previously mentioned nightmare which was just sheer hell and doom lol.

I never met anyone who can relate to the first infinite doom/blank canvas until today, I'm seeing lots of similar experiences in this thread which I can't wait to dive into. The second dream though, the juxtaposition of something tiny holding the weight of the universe or vice versa, seems a lot more common. I remember a day back when I was in college when I went around asking loads of people about this, and a surprising amount of them were like OMG I HAD THAT TOO!! I remember doing a deep dive on it and I found a research paper explaining it as a symptom very minor type of stroke which is common in children. Wouldn't have a clue how to rediscover that article... I'm going to have a look around the internet tomorrow.

On a side note, it's definitely worth drawing a parallel between all this talk and that of a strong psychedelic/ego death experience. Coincidentally or not, the first time I took LSD (it was a very high dose and I was 16, stupid I know but this was 13 years ago lol) resulted in an experience of infinite time, infinite doom, absence of space/time/color which was very similar to the first dream I described. For me, most of these peculiar experiences have comprised of just white and black colours... not like black and white where there are shades etc, but pure whites and blacks. For the LSD experience, in the centre of this infinite void there were symbols that felt like archetypes at the time, but when I think back on them it just sounds like influence from conspiracy theories. It was like a middle perspective on this infinite white void, broken up by constantly changing triangles, eye shapes, nose-shapes, question marks, and the number 8. It was pure hell and I was genuinely terrified of question marks for months after that experience.

Despite everyone on the internet claiming they are myths, I 100% experienced INTENSE LSD flashbacks from this experience, albeit only induced by smoking weed. The flashbacks were even more terrifying than the original experience because it was objective and repeatable. However, these flashback experiences captured the vibe whilst putting me into a more IRL environment. For example, me and my friends would all be hanging out and smoking, laughing, and the laughter would erupt into such insanity that it was like I broke through into another dimension or something. I'd still be in the same room, but time no longer existed, and my sense of self and ego were completely replaced by infinite doom, and these terrifying sentences from my friends. They would say things like "Do you get it now... do you finally understand?" as if life was some enormous facade that I'd been believing up until this point. It's been years since I've truly felt the full force of this feeling, but can occasionally work myself into a less immersive version of it if I've got really high, watched a horror movie, or generally have heightened senses of anxiety/fear/mystery.

Man, deep shit. Sorry to get rambly toward the end there, but I've had a lot of spooky experiences like this and I find them totally fascinating. Can't wait to flix through this thread properly tomorrow.

I remember that one time, I woke up from those linear geometric fever dreams, and the slowing energy got dragged into the real world and all I heard was going in a different rhythm, the voices, the noice, even the music, everything was a mix of an slower and accelerated rhythm/cadence.

just joined this forum to chime in ... for what it's worth ... came here by searching "geometric fever dreams".

had these from early childhood, stopped in early teens, always a sure sign of a fever in my case. always the exact same recurring dream -

everything is sort of grey, colourless, like in the dark, 'grainy'. there are these huge geometric balls/circles/spheres (at least two of them, and one of them has a 'spoke' pattern or something like that, at least that's how i drew it when i tried to paint it as a kid). the circles are moving terrifyingly slow. i can see a tiny shape moving in between them which i identify with (even though it's by no means 'me' nor 'my body'). the tiny shape looks a bit like what the childhood me interpreted as a cherry lollipop: a tiny circle with a thin stick, and this one is possibly in colour, whereas the rest of the space & circles is colourless. the space has a sense of huge expanse to it, even though the whole situation with the slow-moving circles is at the same time terrifyingly claustrophobic.

main characteristics being the contrast between 'overwhelmingly huge' and 'fragile tiny', and that terrifying slow movement that is threatening to squish the cherry lollipop me. mine had no sound perception associated with it.

to think of it still makes me feel out of breath even now, more than 30 years later ...

have found myself thinking of it as some scary pre-natal memory over the years, no idea if that's true.

It's great to see that I wasn't the only one who had a dream or dreams like this. The one I had was when I was very young I could say 5 or 6 but I'm not sure. I don't remember the time at all I just remember the dream and the house I lived in when I had it.

But I was in this void and the first thing I notice is a huge infinitely humongous cube that comes by. And it's yelling like a grown man. But the yell is tremendously loud and extremely terrifying. And it's constant. And for some reason it feels as if the big cubes are smiling at me. Not physically of course but it literally feels like there just messing with me cuz they know I don't understand. Then after they pass by my awarness shifts to an infinitely small cube and its mumbling in a very high pitch voice. There's no word just really high pitch loud yet quiet mumbling. And the cube feels more terrified then me. Which makes me even more terrified because how in the world could it be more terrified then me after what I just witnessed. Its a lot like The Crushing that IJJIJIIJJIJI mentioned. Very similar. But with no physical objects. I dont remember seeing the cubes I just remember feeling there presence. And they felt very sentient too.

I never really gave this dream much thought until a month or so ago. I'm 18 now. But I was experimenting with mushrooms because I know they can give you ego death and all that. God was I dumb for wanting that. But my 3rd experience with it went terribly wrong very quickly. It was all fun in games until I went into my friends living room and laid on the couch. Then I opened my eyes and pretty much woke up in a bad trip. I was quickly losing my self identity. At one point I looked at my friend and said who am I. All I could remember is I lived with my brother and that I had a dog. Bit i had no clue what any of that meant in the moment. Then I closed my eyes and went into this void. And it felt very very similar to the place in the dream. Although I wasn't really thinking about that. All that was on my mind was the tremendous familiarity of this sensation through my body. It felt like magnets trying to come together but pushing themselves away. I had no visuals I was in a void. And it was a very very strong feeling. I can't even really remember what it felt like at all but I remember opening my eyes and saying or thinking about how familiar it was.

Before this trip I was very spiritual and meditated every day. But after I didn't want to mess with it because every time I tried to meditate this feeling of fear would hit me. But I've slowly been getting back to it latley. Well the other day I sat down to meditate and I got this feeling of fear. But this time it was very strong. And it automatically reminded me of the dream I had with the cubes for the first time in years. I spoke to the fear and told it that I was done i wouldnt let it push me around anymore. And I wanted it to come see me in my dreams again. Even though I never want to be that terrified again. I want to go up against whatever this is and somehow make up with it. Even though we all know thats completely impossible cuz I don't even know what the hell "it" is. But then I went to lay down and got comfortable. It was 5 to 10 minutes after I got comfortable and the feeling from the dream was there. I haven't felt this feeling for at least 12 years. So it was very surprising. I was still wide awake. But between my hands I felt this feeling of a very very large slab. Like a infinitely big or small rectangular slab. And it felt like it was about to break on the right end. Not in the middle But on the right end. And this was 100% the exact feeling I had in my dream. So I've been obsessing with it since. Then I found this and it made me realize I'm not crazy. There's just something crazy happening. To those who read this huge thing thankyou and please tell me if you can relate to any of this in any way.

Wow! I had completely forgotten about this site, used to post here infrequently several years ago when I was really into lucid dreaming, but I eventually lost interest. Had to make a new account to reply to this.
I ended up on this thread after a free fall down the google rabbit-hole after I came across a tweet where someone mentioned experiencing sensing a panicked voice silently screaming at them, and my first thought was "Oh, they're hearing squares!"

So, all though my childhood, and still on rare occasions, I had the Timaeus "dreams", or as my 6 year old brain dubbed it; Hearing squares. (Named precisely because the experience defied all sense of logic.) As many others here, it was impossible to describe to family or friends, and eventually I just shrugged it off as some weird stuff my brain used to do, but finding this thread re-awakened my curiosity, and I've tried my best to explain my experience of it below;

It either precedes or follows a night of sleep, but it always happens as I'm awake in bed.
Everything is perceived through a static-like filter, except its not purely visual; Myself, my thoughts, the room around me and everything in it is split into what feels like a fourth-dimensional kaleidoscopic grid of opposites. It's rust-red in colour. Or it feels rust-red. Everything feels simultaneously both immensely big and microscopically small, violently loud and deadly quiet. Mental images, no matter what they are, become almost comically or cartoonishly disfigured to the point where I feel like I'm going insane.
Along with this comes the strong sense of a presence, and from it, a notion of extreme urgency. It emanates anger and despair, directed towards me.
It is silently shouting at me about something, and it leaves me feeling like I´m a child in a world I don't yet understand.
The experience is mentally exhausting and almost painful, as if my mind is being ripped apart and my sense of self is deteriorating. It somehow feels industrial, dirty and just disgusting.
It lingers for a while after getting up and it can be so powerful I used to be afraid it would somehow damage my mind.

Re-discovering this collective nighttime insanity has made me want to try to replicate this feeling visually since words can only explain to an extent, (Im a filmmaker and I've been toying with the idea of making some sort of little documentary about this whole thing), and I've come across an effect that, to me, is the closest I've seen the Timaeus "feeling" depicted, and I'm curious to hear if its just me or if anyone else feels the same way. Its a Photoshop tool called "Content aware scale" and is these days primarily used to make distorted memes.
As a new member I apparently can't post links yet but a quick YouTube search for "content aware scale memes" gets you tons of results.

Also, if anyone is interested in participating in the potential documentary, (and replies within a couple of months), I would love to interview fellow Timaeus sufferers/enthusiasts

Originally Posted by magnus0pus

Wow! I had completely forgotten about this site, used to post here infrequently several years ago when I was really into lucid dreaming, but I eventually lost interest. Had to make a new account to reply to this.

If you already created an alternate account, contact an administrator for help sorting it out.
Either PM or Talk To Staff ASAP.
Here: https://www.dreamviews.com/talk-staff/ so you can reconnect with your old account.

Please see Da Rules here: https://www.dreamviews.com/rules-regulations/
Do you remember your old User Name?
We don't really allow Alt OR variants accounts here.
--------------------------------

Back on TOPIC!!!

Originally Posted by magnus0pus

.
I ended up on this thread after a free fall down the google rabbit-hole after I came across a tweet where someone mentioned experiencing sensing a panicked voice silently screaming at them, and my first thought was "Oh, they're hearing squares!"

So, all though my childhood, and still on rare occasions, I had the Timaeus "dreams", or as my 6 year old brain dubbed it; Hearing squares. (Named precisely because the experience defied all sense of logic.) As many others here, it was impossible to describe to family or friends, and eventually I just shrugged it off as some weird stuff my brain used to do, but finding this thread re-awakened my curiosity, and I've tried my best to explain my experience of it below;

It either precedes or follows a night of sleep, but it always happens as I'm awake in bed.
Everything is perceived through a static-like filter, except its not purely visual; Myself, my thoughts, the room around me and everything in it is split into what feels like a fourth-dimensional kaleidoscopic grid of opposites. It's rust-red in colour. Or it feels rust-red. Everything feels simultaneously both immensely big and microscopically small, violently loud and deadly quiet. Mental images, no matter what they are, become almost comically or cartoonishly disfigured to the point where I feel like I'm going insane.
Along with this comes the strong sense of a presence, and from it, a notion of extreme urgency. It emanates anger and despair, directed towards me.

But, Yeah, I've been there in a sense. Everything feels simultaneously both immensely big and microscopically small, violently loud and deadly quiet.
Clone myself in my dreams and the feeling of simultaneously getting torn apart and stitched back together... The textile feeling is crazy and sometimes very painful.

Btw, Are you getting enough sleep? Not getting enough sleep can cause Hallucinations like these too.

~Lang
DreamView Mod.

My sleep schedule is pretty good at the moment, these episodes never seemed to correlate with a lack of sleep, as far as I can tell.
"A textile feeling" is a pretty good way to describe it as well!

Btw, maybe you can answer this as you are a mod Lang, but would I be allowed to use a some quotes from some of these replies in my video/documentary, if I exclude the usernames? Just general descriptions of how the Timaeus dreams appear for different people.
I would message each user privately and ask but as this thread dates back to 2006 I'd imagine there are a lot of inactive users.

This was a recurring dream for much of my childhood, until I was roughly 15 years old. Even now, many years later, it still creeps into my psyche as flashbacks of the visions and emotions felt at the time and tears at corners of my sanity. It still terrifies me to this day. I’m not big on religion or believing in higher beings or alternate planes of existence, but to this day, it is the experience that likened itself the most to encountering a god-like entity. Something so completely otherworldly and incomprehensible that I cannot explain its occurrence through my otherwise rational, explainable, deterministic vision of the world.

I’ve read through every post on all 9 pages, and some of the accounts I’ve read are shockingly accurate and relate the experience incredibly well.

I’d like to add to this pool of accounts, but by taking a pseudo-scientific approach to the dream and breaking it down as best I can to its barest elements, and build a somewhat coherent logical framework to explain elements of the dream. I’ve not finished writing everything either, some parts are left blank for now.

I believe the existential dread, abject terror, intense panic, physical nausea and complete loss of sense of self stems from two main sources. The inability of the human mind to cope with physical manifestations of the infinite, and the cognitive dissonance of the juxtaposition of deeply contradictory facts.

The Observer:
This is the perspective of the dreamer.

In most cases, there is no physical presence, but a sense of awareness and consciousness of one’s existence in the dream world. The dreamer can perceive and feel the space he inhabits, not through a first- nor third-person perspective, but through an elevated, dematerialised sense of self. Additionally, the dreamer is prone to being in a state of high emotional sensitivity, as is often the case during dream states.

The Space:
This is the plane where the dream unfolds.

It is an infinite space of absolutely uniform colour - blindingly white in my case - which has no up, down, left, right, no horizon and prevents any sense of depth perception and shows no bounds (think along the lines of the White Room in the Matrix (1), Assassin’s Creed Animus loading screen (2), or futuristic world where Squidward is alone (3) - links not working because new account). Despite The Space being infinite, it feels sickeningly claustrophobic.

In many cases, The Observer reports having the innate knowledge that the space is infinite. However I would like to offer a rational explanation for how one comes to this conclusion. Rather than simply “knowing” the space is infinite, I posit that The Observer physically experiences infinity in a deeply unsettling and dread-inducing way for the first of many times in this dream.

How he does so can be explained by looking at how our human brains perceive movement. To do so, we look for one of two things. First, movement of the object itself; for instance the movement of legs marching, even against a static white background, would indicate to our brain a sense of direction and movement. Or second, movement of the background in relation to a static object; think of a train moving - if we fix a camera to a moving train, the background whizzing by would indicate movement.

However, as explained above, The Observer has no physical presence in The Space, thus when moving in it as a formless viewer, there is no movement coming from The Observer himself. This rules-out the first way of perceiving movement. Moreover, since The Space presents no objects that could be used as a frame of reference - just one constant unwavering colour - no background change is observed when moving through it. Hence, movement cannot be perceived in this way either.

This is the big first cognitive dissonance. The Observer has the intimate conviction that he is moving through The Space, but when he does so, it’s as though he is standing still, since no movement is perceived. The Observer rationalises that he exists in some instance of infinity - where it is logically sound that movement should behave in this new way - where moving through infinity is the same as not moving at all. Miraculously, our brain has formulated a nightmarish physical representation of infinity which can be experienced through movement - or lack thereof. This experience is so unlike any other that it forces our mind to twist and contort to attempt to comprehend something so foreign it induces the deep sense of panic and existential dread often reported.

Compounding these feelings, there is an intense feeling of claustrophobia and inability to escape The Space, which is understandable given the explanation above. It results from the lack of perceived movement when travelling through this infinite plane. Even though The Observer is actively trying to move around, there is no change in himself or the background and he feels stuck in place, unable to achieve any motion.

The Shapes
These are the geometric shapes that exist in The Space.

The main feature of this dream. Nightmarish geometric shapes of varying attributes are present in The Space and morph into different configurations of these attributes. I attempt to deconstruct the attributes below.

1. Size, Weight, and Mass
First, let’s look at how the size, weight, and mass of the shapes are experienced, then I will propose an explanation for these experiences.
Unanimously, the most panic-inducing property of The Shapes is their simultaneously microscopic and gargantuan, infinite size. An imperceptibly small shape the size of a pinhead expands to a horrifying monolithic entity of incomprehensible scale, encompassing and filling The Space in its entirety, taking over as the only matter in existence, before contracting again to microscopic size, yielding room for the void of The Space. When The Shapes expand, The Observer intuitively knows that the strength needed to enlarge a microscopic object to an infinitely large size cannot exist, at least not in our human world. When an infinitely large and dense Shape is shrunk down and the infinite amount of energy present in it is condensed into a microscopic vibrating dot ready to burst out at any moment, The Observer cannot content with this given our established and subconsciously understood natural laws. An infinite mass cannot be shrunk to a finite microscopic object. The Shapes’ miniaturisation is sometimes so drastic that they cannot be seen, but their infinitely condensed energy can still be felt by the Observer. The Observer’s awareness of a metaphysical entity that yields this amount of power and is able to expand and contract energy and matter at its will is a deep source of intense terror and awe, further exacerbated by the fact that all the energy and force required for these infinite expansions and impossible contractions is gutturally felt by and forced upon The Observer.

Developing further the idea of this nightmare revolving around the mind having to face physical representations of infinity, we can find a logical, almost mathematical reasoning behind the Observer’s perception of The Shapes and of their energy as infinite, which is the main driver behind the feelings of panic and powerlessness. As mentioned previously, The Observer has gained the understanding of The Space as infinite through his act of motion in The Space but lack of perceived movement. Now comes the second unbearable cognitive dissonance which makes The Observer feel nauseous and terrified: how can The Shapes fill The Space if The Space is infinite?

For this to happen, The Shape must expand to an infinite size in order to fill the infinite Space. This is a paradox – if The Space is infinitely big, the expansion of the Shape into this infinitely big Space will take infinitely long. What unfolds is a relentless and everlasting process of expansion of pure matter and energy into an infinite space. In mathematical terms, two infinite sets can have the same size (for instance the set of positive and the set of negative numbers contain the same infinite number of elements). In this context, The Observer is subject to viewing and experiencing first hand this phenomenon of infinite equality, forced to wrestle with these two infinities melding into each other, forced to feel The Shape growing infinitely and unrelentingly into the infinite Space until it has almost taken it over before repeating the eternal expansion. I believe this is a prime factor in why these dreams cause such arcane, almost mythological fears. The Observer is both physically crushed and consumed by the mass of The Shape expanding infinitely into the space he inhabits, and psychologically crushed by the weight of the realisation of the inconceivable, of the otherworldly occurring before his eyes.


2. Shape
The Shapes themselves vary from report to report. Minuscule dots expand into agonizingly large spheres or monstrous wheels whose gruesome curvature feels all-consuming and absorbs and imbibes both The Space and The Observer with its gravitational pull. Tiny cubes morph into infinitely large ones in which all corners of the cubes are somehow perceivable and form lacerating edges and where the faces of the cubes bring a sense of impending doom in their unflinching and awe-inspiring size, forcing The Observer to submit before their colossal and monstruous scale. Jagged and spikey Shapes emerge, torturing pricking, electrocuting, and poking at The Observer’s consciousness, instilling a sense of deep physical pain and irregularity and unpredictability. Lines stretch out along the infinite Space, sometimes sharply piercing through other infinite shapes, often reported as the least threatening Shapes.

The Shapes sprout out lines both thin and thick at the same time. They meld into each other and with each transformation they change mass and shape. The seamless transition at varying speeds from one Shape to another in no discernible pattern adds to the sense of powerlessness and terror. The Observer is confronted with the reality of these impossible visions, and short-circuits the brain – the amygdala fires and creates a sense of fear, dread, doom and intense anxiety and encourages The Observer to flee, with little success since there is no movement in The Space.

3. Movement and Speed
This feature can be decomposed into two further components: the counterintuitive movement of The Shapes in The Space. and the change of The Shapes from one form to another.

I would suggest that the movement of The Shapes inside The Space is another deeply unsettling element of the dream. Despite what The Observer knows of The Space with regards to one’s inability to perceive movement within it because of its infinite size, The Shapes seems to have a clear sense of direction and motion. This again forces the mind to reckon with a contradiction. If no movement can be observed in The Space in which The Observer is stuck, how can they perceive movements of The Shapes. It’s as though these have transcended the - albeit surreal - corporeal plane of existence where The Observer exists and are able to move through this space on a dimension we humans have no access to and cannot understand. I believe this phenomenon is at the core of why many reports include experiencing a 4th dimension of sorts. The brain tries but is unable to make sense of the geometric and special incongruities it is experiencing. This is a strong factor for why these dreams feel so foreign to the dreamer who feels a slow and terrorizing descent into insanity.
At times, The Shapes stand completely still, but the stillness feels wrong. They go from pure chaos to complete standstill - in the blink of an eye a tiny dot invisible to the naked eye expands to a sphere and overwhelms completely The Space, releasing a grotesque amount of energy.

4. Texture

5. Sound


The Task
The awareness of something not well defined that needs to be accomplished which causes obtrusive obsessive thoughts on solving it but cannot be physically done or even understood.

I've been reading through this thread, and a lot of the replies remind of of a game called Irisu Syndrome. This is the gameplay:
irisu_syndrome_gameplay.jpg

It's described by the main character as such:
I intently destroy odd things in the cold, inhuman reality of the strange world on the back of my eyelids.
It's a game I've played my entire life, ever since my lonely childhood.

As I play this game and calm my heart,
my feelings of insecurity have somehow disappeared.

So, not a dream and not terrifying (the opposite, in fact), but the geometric shapes and "inhuman reality" make me wonder if the gameplay could have been inspired by these kinds of dreams. I also saw some people saying they experienced it while awake, so that's something.

Anyway, it's a good game, I recommend it

Originally Posted by Meiseki

I've been reading through this thread, and a lot of the replies remind of of a game called Irisu Syndrome. This is the gameplay:
irisu_syndrome_gameplay.jpg

It's described by the main character as such:
I intently destroy odd things in the cold, inhuman reality of the strange world on the back of my eyelids.
It's a game I've played my entire life, ever since my lonely childhood.

As I play this game and calm my heart,
my feelings of insecurity have somehow disappeared.

So, not a dream and not terrifying (the opposite, in fact), but the geometric shapes and "inhuman reality" make me wonder if the gameplay could have been inspired by these kinds of dreams. I also saw some people saying they experienced it while awake, so that's something.

Anyway, it's a good game, I recommend it

Where can I find it?

Where can I find it?

I believe I got it from this website: https://www.neoseeker.com/irisu-synd...lkthrough.html Make sure you check your files regularly, or you will be very confused (like I was at the beginning ).

I just found out this experience has been shared by others. Ironically enough in a Youtube video by Parellel Pipes, who's username almost describes my dreams. As soon as the Timaeus Dreams and this forum were mentioned in his video I had to find this forum and write about my experience. I hope that it helps others feel less alone in this horrifying experience, and also I hope it is healing for me.

My dreams also occurred in childhood. I know it was a recurring dream but I only have one explicit memory of the dream which was at my auntie's house. I remember having the dream there because it woke me up and I didn't remember where I was. Well, I thought I was in my bedroom at home. I got up to find my parents but I couldn't find my way out of the unfamiliar room in the dark. I think I woke my little brother up with my desperate screaming and crying and he helped my find the door.

In my dreams, I was in a large black space. I couldn't see the walls but it didn't feel infinite. Just an unimaginably large space that was perfectly black in all directions, no light source, no real sense of up and down. I'm disembodied, but the dream somehow has an inexplicable link to my tongue. Like the feeling of pressing your tongue into the roof of your mouth; kind of a dumb, dull, blunt sense of pressure. If you press your tongue hard into the roof of your moth without it touching your teeth and hold it there.

I'm watching two or more huge cylinders. I don't really have a strong sense of what they are made of, but seems like a dense smooth polished rock. They're maybe the height of a high rise building but have a wider diameter. They are turning incredibly slowly. Rolling like a wheel. They don't touch, but they come incredibly close as they roll. If you can imagine following a spot on the wheel, there is something painfully, I don't know, slow yet inevitable about it. Something about how close the two cylinders are to touching. There is a time aspect to it, but not on a human scale. Not time as we experience it passing. These cylinders rolling, is happening on a thousand year time scale. Like it takes one thousand years for the cylinders to complete one degree of rotation.

The experience of watching the cylinders is like fear, horror, terror. Like a realization; remembering an assignment is due tomorrow as you lay down to go to sleep, or your Dad's just pulled into the driveway and you haven't put the bins out and the garbage truck has already been. It's that kind of feeling, but in its pure form, removed from any context and inescapable. It's like I'm witnessing something no person should witness. Like I've peered into the mechanics of the universe and found it void of any meaning or purpose. Indifferent to it's own existence, it just is.

It might be my childhood mind simultaneously discovering nihilism and being absolutely convinced of its trueness.*I would be interested to know if others who have shared this dream have struggled with nihilism. Now in my late thirties, I have meaning in my life. I'm married to a woman I love, I have two beautiful daughters. But like a dark past, or maybe a dark secret, I'm still confronted by nihilism occasionally. It's like a ghost in my home.

Called my Mum, she said she thinks she remembers me having those dreams. We moved around a l when I was little so we usually remember when something happened by where we were living at the time. We will say something like "that was when we lived on Bailey Ave". Mum said I was having those dreams when we lived on Elm St. Nightmare on Elm St.